The team was coached by Joe Paterno and played its home games in Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania.

[4] The Nittany Lions finished the season 7–6, 4–4 in Big Ten play and were invited to the Outback Bowl where they were defeated by Florida 37–24.

Rob Bolden became the first true freshman to start the season opening game at quarterback for Penn State since Shorty Miller in 1910.

[18] Bolden led the Nittany Lions to at 44–14 victory over the Football Championship Subdivision Youngstown State Penguins.

Youngstown State got a final touchdown against reserves to make it 44–14 before Matt McGloin got some playing time near the end.

Penn State blew a chance to tie the game after Bolden was picked off and the Tide marched downfield to make it 14–0.

Early in the 4th, Alabama put the game away with a Trent Richardson touchdown dive to go up 24–0, but Penn State finally got on the board with a field goal to make it 24–3, yet the Nittany Lions could not close the gap any further.

Collin Wagner converted 5 of 6 field goal attempts and Michael Zordich, Jr. scored the lone Penn State touchdown from his fullback position.

[24] Although the special team recovered two Illinois punt-return fumbles deep in the Illini territory, the Lions had to settle for two field goals.

[24] Penn State won for the first time in the 2010 Big Ten season defeating the Golden Gophers 33–21 in Joe Paterno's first visit to the TCF Bank Stadium.

Quarterback Rob Bolden completed 11 of 13 passes for 130 yards including a 21-yard touchdown to Brett Brackett before leaving the game with an apparent concussion.

Colin Wagner kicked one field goal and the defense garnered a safety to complete the scoring in Joe Paterno's 398th career win.

The Lions controlled the ball for more than 37 minutes and outscored Michigan by a stunning 28–10 in the first half partly due to turnovers, never trailing, and boosted the lead to 31–10 early in the 3rd quarter.

Penn State could not stop the Wildcats quarterback Dan Persa in the first half and trailed by 21 points late in the 2nd quarter.

The Lions defense surrendered 314 rushing yards and Ohio State scored 35 unanswered points to win the game.

Despite this, improvements from their first three losses were noted in the deceptive final score, as it was a winnable game for over 50 minutes until the Buckeyes made it 31–14 from a Matt McGloin pick six.

The Lions broke the tie when Andrew Dailey blocked an Indiana punt and James Van Fleet returned it for a touchdown and scored 17 unanswered points to win the game in the Fedex Field.

Penn State surged in the 4th quarter and scored 3 touchdowns from Joe Suhey, Evan Royster and Derek Moye.

Penn State's final attempt to come from behind fell short after a failed onside kick in the last minute of the game.

Quarterback McGloin threw a school-record five interceptions in the game: the 2nd and 3rd were deep in the Penn State territory (15 and 25 yards) and directly led to Florida touchdowns; the 4th interception was returned by the Gators for an 80-yard touchdown and ended Penn State's final hope to win the game.

Roster Last update: September 1, 2010 On November 29, 2010, three Penn State players were selected to the 2010 All-Big Ten Team in voting by the conference coaches and media.